Emily Symons has revealed that she is expecting her first child. The 45-year-old actress, who is best known for playing Marilyn Chambers on Home and Away, admitted that she originally felt she was "too old" to have a baby.
Speaking about her miracle pregnancy, Emily took to Twitter to write: "Never say never! We are so happy to finally be able to share our news. Thanks for all your incredibly kind words."
The Sydney-born star and her partner Paul Jackson are getting ready to welcome their little arrival in August, around the same time of Emily's 46th birthday.
Emily Symons admitted that she had 'given up' trying for a baby
"I very much thought it couldn't happen and I was too old," the blonde beauty told Australia's Daily Telegraph. "I thought it would be impossible but it isn't.
"I'd given up really. I thought I had tried every avenue that was available to us. My advice is to not give up if you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole process."
Emily, who went through a few IVF cycles before becoming pregnant, is currently 15 weeks along but the actress admitted that the feeling hadn't really "sunk in" yet.
Emily Symons' Home and Away character has also recently becoming a mum
Emily was previously married to Lorenzo Smith, a descendent of English stationery tycoon W.H. Smith, but the pair split after two years in 2005. The small-screen star admitted that it was her need for children and two failed rounds of IVF that contributed to the end of her marriage.
Looking back on the past decade, she said at the time: "I spent a lot of my 30s being so anguished about not having a baby. There's a longing and a biological need to have a baby that I don't think men have."
Emily added that she will continue to star in Home and Away – the show she first joined in 1989. Her most recent storyline has seen her character Marilyn wed partner John Palmer and become a mother too, by taking in John's adopted son Jett.